Quantum research is one of the most promising research areas being pursued today. The hope is that the principles of quantum mechanics will trigger pioneering breakthroughs in a variety of fields, leading to new applications. These fields include computing, sensor technology, communication and data security.
Quantum research is of great importance to ETH Zurich, where a significant number of professorships are now investigating quantum physics and quantum technologies. Although the Department of Physics is still home to a majority of quantum scientists, they are playing an increasingly prominent role in other departments as well.
Foray into new fields
The expectation of new applications is a major reason why quantum research is gaining a foothold in an increasing number of departments. Harnessing the abstract phenomena of quantum mechanics for specific applications calls for more than just theoretical and experimental physicists. They must also be joined by engineers to attend to the electronics, nanofabrication, new materials or process scalability, and by computer scientists to develop the required programming approaches, without which the new technologies would be useless.
Source: “Raising the profile of quantum research”, Felix Würsten, Zurich ETH News
